Does James Harden have a ring? How 76ers star compares to NBA greats to never win a championship

James Harden was in vintage form during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Dropping 45 points against the Celtics, the 33-year-old shooting guard did everything in his power to help Philadelphia to a crucial road win.

Harden has done it all in his career. Well, almost all. He's led the league in scoring three times and assists twice. He won the 2017-18 MVP. He's a 10-time All-Star. 

The lone blemish on what is otherwise a first-ballot Hall of Fame resume? He has no rings. For all The Beard has accomplished in his career, a title has eluded him. Now in his first full season with the 76ers, he's clearly doing everything he can to try and change that.

There are plenty of NBA standouts in history that have never won a title. Charles Barkley. Karl Malone. Chris Paul. Allen Iverson. The list goes on and on.

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How does Harden stand among the best players in the game to have never won a title? Here's what you need to know.

James Harden ranks among non-title winning players

Playoff games

Harden has made plenty of trips to the postseason. He has played in playoff basketball in 14 of his 16 career seasons. Through those campaigns, he has played in 154 games and started 111.

Among all NBA/ABA players, Harden has played in the 37th most playoff games. Of players in the all-time top 100 in playoff games played, 77 have won a title while 23 have not. Among those who have not, Harden ranks tied for fourth.

Regular-season points scored

During his prime, few could keep up with Harden as a scorer. From 2017-20, he went three straight seasons averaging at least 30 points in scoring while leading the league in all three campaigns.

The scoring prowess of the shooting guard has led him to rank 25th all time in regular-season points scored. Of the players in the top 100 for all-time points, only about half (54) have won an NBA title. Harden comes in at No. 8 among the 46 without a ring.

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Assists

Harden has not just been one of the league's best scorers. He's been an overall facilitator of the offense. He's particularly been on another level with assisting in recent seasons as he just led the league in assists per game (10.7) in 2022-23 as he completed his third straight year with double-digit assists per game.

This season, Harden also ascended into the top 20, passing Bob Cousy as he reached 7,015 assists in his career. Interestingly, assists have perhaps correlated with titles the least. Only 42 of the top 100 in assists find themselves with titles on their resume. Harden ranks 11th among the 58 without a title.

10 All-Star appearances

Only the most elite players in the sport's history have earned 10 All-Star appearances. There have been just 42 players earn the recognition 10 times. Harden is one of them.

It is likely no surprise that this list is the most comprised of NBA champions of any. Of the 42, 33 — 78.6 percent — have won a ring, while only nine haven't. Here's a look at the nine with 10 All-Star nods, but no titles.

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Win shares

Win shares are by no means a perfect stat. It is a stat used to determine how much of team's wins should be credited to individual players, according to Basketball Reference. Still, it can be a decent indicator to look at the players that have been among the most successful in league history.

Harden, for his part, ranks 22nd among players in history in win shares with 158. Of the top 100, 61 have won an NBA title (one other claimed an ABA title), while 38 have no rings to their name. Harden has the sixth-highest win share among players in the latter camp.